The present invention relates to mechanical presses and in particular to a shutheight adjusting mechanism for such presses.
Mechanical presses, for example, stamping presses and drawing presses, comprise a frame having a crown and bed and a slide supported within the frame for reciprocal motion toward and away from the bed. The slide is driven by a crankshaft having a connecting arm connected to the slide. Such mechanical presses are widely used for blanking and drawing operations and vary substantially in size and available tonnage depending upon the intended use.
In prior art presses of this type, the slide is generally connected to the crankshaft by a connecting rod which is adjustable in length or which is connected to another member that is adjustable in its relation to the slide so that the shutheight opening between the slide and bed can be adjusted to accommodate the press for various die sets. Alternatively, the bed portion or bolster of the press can have its position adjusted relative to the slide so as to adjust the shutheight therebetween, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,858,432. Regardless of the mode of shutheight adjustment, the slide is generally guided on the upright portions of the press frame extending between the crown and bed so that the parts of the die set remain in accurate registration as the slide reciprocates.
Many prior art mechanical presses comprise a plurality of connection screws for reciprocating the slide, and it is customary practice to provide a shutheight adjusting mechanism whereby the position of the slide relative to each of the connection screws is adjusted simultaneously by means of an interconnected worm gear arrangement, which is driven either manually or by means of an operator controlled motor.